Scientists attack government bird flu planning

[cal04]

· Virus has shown signs of resistance to Tamiflu
· Second drug 'should have been stockpiled'

Some of Britain's top scientists yesterday accused the government of failing to listen to expert advice in its preparations for a flu pandemic and of stockpiling a single drug, which might not work, to treat the population.

Over 14m doses of the drug, Tamiflu, have been delivered, but two leading scientific institutions, the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, say the government should be buying similar quantities of a second drug, Relenza, as well.

Reports from south-east Asia suggest that in a few cases Tamiflu has not been effective because the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has proved lethal to humans, has developed resistance to the drug.

The report is highly critical of the government's failure to act on scientific advice and proposes that an independent flu specialist should be appointed to advise the cabinet committee on influenza pandemic planning, alongside the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1953139,00.html

[Lasthorseman]

1. I heard

"in a few cases" Tamiflu drove people insane.
My wife works in the health care industry. They have literally scared the crap out of people most of whom were stockpiling food for an end of September "event". In light of this current administration's moves bird flu is seen as just another excuse to generate "terra" and convince the sheep into giving up their rights.
Google bio-safety level 4 labs. It seems there has been a remarkable increase in the construction of these places. Can't have stem cell research, but we gotta have our own biological weapons right?

[Mojorabbit]

2. I found

the dod plans for if we do have a pandemic on google. Illuminating.

[Mojorabbit]

3. Sudan

SUDAN: Moves to contain suspected avian flu in Juba
KAMPALA, 20 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - Thousands of domestic poultry have been destroyed in and around the southern Sudanese capital of Juba in an attempt to contain an avian flu threat reported in the region several months ago, officials said.
snip
Authorities in southern Sudan announced in September that they had found the H5N1 strain in chicken and in the owner of an affected farm. The farmer was hospitalised with avian flu symptoms and later tested positive, prompting the World Health Organization to send a team into the impoverished country.
snip
The ministry, he added, had also trained medical personnel to handle the situation if the disease was detected in the east African country. The Uganda Wildlife Authority was also observing the movement of birds from the north and taking samples

[Mojorabbit]

4. Another article showing how ill prepared we are in the us

One in Five Shots in U.S. Flu Stockpile Weakening (Update1)

By John Lauerman

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Almost a fifth of the pandemic flu vaccine doses in a U.S. stockpile have begun to lose potency, the Department of Health and Human Services said.

The stockpile, which last year held enough fully effective shots to vaccinate 3.75 million people against the H5N1 avian influenza, now has enough for fewer than 3 million, said Bill Hall, an HHS spokesman, in a telephone interview today. Sanofi- Aventis SA, which made the shots, discovered the reduced strength in routine testing of the stockpile, he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=aoxRfNgDRy2I&refer=healthcare

[Mojorabbit]

5. Bush in vietnam and indonesia

http://www.birdflubreakingnews.com/templates/birdflu/window.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fchealth.canoe.ca%2Fchannel_health_news_details.asp%3Fnews_id%3D19157%26news_channel_id%3D1020%26channel_id%3D1020
Bush tours bird flu lab in Vietnam
Provided by: Associated Press
Written by: MARGIE MASON
Nov. 20, 2006

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP) - U.S. President George W. Bush toured a bird flu lab Monday and praised Vietnam for its successful battle against the disease, pledging U.S. support and urging Southeast Asia to prepare for a potential pandemic.

Bush arrived at the Pasteur Institute - one of Vietnam's top research institutes for communicable diseases - in southern Ho Chi Minh City to an enthusiastic reception from crowds gathered on the streets.
(I think these may have been enthusiastic protesters ..mojo)


Indonesia
http://www.birdflubreakingnews.com/templates/birdflu/window.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.todayonline.com%2Farticles%2F155864.asp

Visiting US President George W. Bush pledged to help fight avian influenza in Indonesia, which has the world's highest death toll at 56.
.
In Indonesia during a seven-hour visit after attending the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Hanoi, Bush said any pandemic in Southeast Asia posed a direct threat to Americans.
.
"If there is an influenza outbreak in Vietnam, it could affect Indonesia and the people of America. Therefore we need to work in a collaborative way to deal with this great threat," Bush said.
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"We continue to form partnerships on this issue," Bush told reporters at joint press briefing with his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
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A joint statement issued after the press briefing said that both Indonesia and US also agreed to accelerate negotiations to extend research work of the US Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) number 2 facilities in Indonesia.
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NAMRU laboratories have been assisting Indonesia's health ministries in confirming suspected avian flu cases in the country over the past two years.
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Efforts to curb the spread of the disease in Indonesia have been hampered by the reluctance of some poultry owners, especially backyard farmers, to hand over their sick or potentially infected birds for slaughter.
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Scientists fear the H5N1 virus could mutate to become easily transmissible among people, which could in turn lead to a global flu pandemic with a potential death toll of millions. — AFP

Visiting US President George W. Bush pledged to help fight avian influenza in Indonesia, which has the world's highest death toll at 56.
.
In Indonesia during a seven-hour visit after attending the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Hanoi, Bush said any pandemic in Southeast Asia posed a direct threat to Americans.
.
"If there is an influenza outbreak in Vietnam, it could affect Indonesia and the people of America. Therefore we need to work in a collaborative way to deal with this great threat," Bush said.
.